Transmission terminal, non-transitory recording medium, transmission method, and transmission system

ABSTRACT

A transmission terminal includes at least one processor configured to transmit a terminal information request to request the number of transmission terminals under transmission to a transmission management apparatus connected via a network; and display image data received from one or more of the transmission terminals under transmission on a display device, and display the number of the transmission terminals under transmission received from the transmission management apparatus in response to the terminal information request on the display device.

CROSS-REFERENCE TO APPLICATIONS

The present application is a continuation application of InternationalApplication No. PCT/JP2015/060144, filed Mar. 31, 2015, which claimspriority to Japanese Patent Application No. 2014-071406, filed Mar. 31,2014. The contents of these applications are incorporated herein byreference in their entirety. Also, the contents of Japanese PatentApplication No. 2014-111480, filed May 29, 2014 are incorporated hereinby reference in their entirety.

BACKGROUND

1. Technical Field

The present invention relates to a transmission terminal, anon-transitory recording medium, a transmission method, and atransmission system.

2. Description of the Related Art

In a video conference system, a transmission terminal acquires an imageand a sound by taking an image and acquiring a statement of aparticipant of the video conference, and transmits the acquired imageand sound to a destination transmission terminal. The destinationtransmission terminal displays the image using a display or a projectorconnected to the destination transmission terminal, and outputs thesound from a speaker. Thus, it is possible for respective remoteparticipants to carry out a conference in a condition similar to anactual conference.

In such a remote conference system, the number of transmission terminalsthat participate in a conference is not limited to 2, and, it ispossible to implement a video conference among many bases by using allthe transmission terminals that participate in the conference.

Generally speaking, in a video conference carried out among many bases,a participant who will participate in the conference using atransmission terminal wishes to know who in a remote place hasparticipated in the conference. Therefore, each transmission terminaldivides an image area of a display of the transmission terminal intodivisions corresponding to transmission terminals which haveparticipated in the video conference, and displays participants in therespective division image areas transmitted from the correspondingtransmission terminals.

A transmission terminal that has an image mode where information oftransmission terminals that have participated in a video conference isdisplayed in addition to an image mode where images transmitted from theother transmission terminals are displayed is known (for example, seeJapanese Unexamined Patent Application No. 2013-157995).

Also, there is a disclosure on 68-72 pages of a document “VoiceRecognition”, written by Yasunaga Niimi, published by Kyoritsu ShuppanCo., Ltd., 1979.

SUMMARY

According to one aspect, a transmission terminal includes at least oneprocessor that is configured to transmit a terminal information requestto request the number of transmission terminals under transmission to atransmission management apparatus connected via a network; and displayimage data received from one or more of the transmission terminals undertransmission on a display device, and display the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission received from the transmissionmanagement apparatus in response to the terminal information request onthe display device.

Other objects, features, and advantages will become more apparent fromthe following detailed description when read in conjunction with theaccompanying drawings.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 generally illustrates one example of a transmission system 1;

FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagram illustrating one example of a statewhere, in the transmission system, image data, sound data, and varioussorts of management information are transmitted and received;

FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating image quality of image data;

FIG. 4 is one example of an outline view of a transmission terminal;

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of a hardware configuration of thetransmission terminal;

FIG. 6 is a hardware configuration diagram of any one of a transmissionmanagement apparatus, a UI providing apparatus, a relay apparatus, and aprogram providing apparatus;

FIG. 7 is one example of a functional block diagram of each of theterminals, the apparatuses and the system included in the transmissionsystem;

FIG. 8 is one example of a conceptual diagram of a terminalauthentication management table managed by the transmission managementapparatus;

FIG. 9A is one example of a conceptual diagram of a terminal managementtable managed by the transmission management apparatus;

FIG. 9B is one example of a conceptual diagram of a terminal managementtable managed by the transmission management apparatus;

FIG. 10 is one example of a conceptual diagram of a terminal managementtable managed by the transmission management apparatus;

FIG. 11 is one example of a sequence diagram illustrating a preparationstage operation carried out until a transmission terminal enters apreparation state for participating in a video conference;

FIG. 12 is one example of a sequence diagram illustrating a conferenceparticipation operation carried out until a transmission terminal entersa participated state where the transmission terminal has participated inthe video conference;

FIG. 13 is one example of a sequence diagram illustrating a datatransmission operation between transmission terminals;

FIG. 14 illustrates one example of a screen page displayed on a displayin a full screen display mode;

FIG. 15 illustrates one example of a screen page displayed on thedisplay in an information display mode;

FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating a terminal informationdisplaying operation of displaying terminal information in a terminalinformation display area when a transmission terminal has switched adisplay mode into the information display mode;

FIG. 17A illustrates one example of a display screen page in the fullscreen display mode when the number of bases is 4;

FIG. 17B illustrates one example of a display screen page in the fullscreen display mode when the number of bases is 9;

FIG. 18 illustrates one example of a display screen page where thenumber of bases is displayed in the full screen display mode;

FIG. 19 illustrates another example of a display screen page where thenumber of bases is displayed in the full screen display mode;

FIG. 20 illustrates one example of a display screen page where thenumber of images displayed in the full screen display mode is differentfrom the number of bases displayed in a second area;

FIG. 21 illustrates one example of an auxiliary area in a simple displaymanner;

FIG. 22 is one example of a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure inwhich the transmission system displays the number of bases when atransmission terminal is in the full screen display mode;

FIG. 23 illustrates one example of a screen page from which a userperforms a setting to display an auxiliary area;

FIG. 24 is one example of a flowchart illustrating an operationprocedure to switch between the auxiliary area in a standard manner andthe auxiliary area in a simple display manner carried out by atransmission terminal when “display in response to being operated” isselected;

FIG. 25 is one example of a flowchart illustrating an operationprocedure of the transmission management apparatus;

FIG. 26 is one example of a flowchart illustrating an operationprocedure of a transmission terminal;

FIG. 27 illustrates one example of a system configuration in a casewhere a transmission terminal is applied as a car navigation apparatus;

FIG. 28 illustrate one example of a configuration diagram of anin-vehicle car navigation apparatus; and

FIG. 29 illustrates one example of displaying a destination listdisplayed on the car navigation apparatus.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF EMBODIMENTS

In a transmission terminal disclosed in Japanese Unexamined PatentApplication No. 2013-157995, switching is carried out between an imagemode where images transmitted from the other transmission terminals aredisplayed and an image mode where information of transmission terminalsthat have participated in a video conference is displayed. Therefore,for example, in the image mode where images transmitted from the othertransmission terminals are displayed, it is impossible to acquire theinformation of transmission terminals acquirable in the image mode wherethe information of transmission terminals that have participated in avideo conference is displayed.

In consideration of the problem, an object is to provide a transmissionterminal with which it is possible to know information of other baseseven in an image mode where images from transmission terminals aredisplayed.

Below, embodiments of the present invention will be described withreference to the drawings.

FIG. 1 generally illustrates a transmission system 1 according to anembodiment of the present invention. FIG. 2 is a conceptual diagramillustrating a state where, in the transmission system 1, image data,sound data, and various sorts of management information are transmittedand received. FIG. 3 is a conceptual diagram illustrating image qualityof image data.

The transmission system 1 may be a data providing system thatunidirectionally transmits content data from one transmission terminalto a plurality of transmission terminals via a transmission managementapparatus 50, or a communication system that transmits information,feelings, and so forth, mutually between a plurality of transmissionterminals via a transmission management apparatus 50. The communicationsystem may be a system that transmits information, feelings, and soforth, mutually between a plurality of communication terminals(corresponding to “transmission terminals”) via a communicationmanagement apparatus (corresponding to a “transmission managementapparatus”), and thus, for example, may be a video conference system, avideo phone system, or the like.

Concerning the present embodiment, the transmission system 1, atransmission management apparatus 50, and transmission terminals 10 willbe described, assuming a video conference system as one example of acommunication system, assuming a video conference management apparatusas one example of a communication management apparatus, and assumingvideo conference terminals as examples of communication terminals. Thatis, the transmission terminals and the transmission management apparatus50 according to the present invention can be applied not only to a videoconference system but also to a communication system, or a datatransmission system.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, the transmission system 1 includes a pluralityof the transmission terminals 10 aa, 10 ab, and so forth, displays 120aa, 120 ab, and so forth of the respective transmission terminals 10 aa,10 ab, and so forth, a UI providing apparatus 20, an informationprocessing terminal 40, relay apparatuses 30 a, 30 b, 30 c, and 30 d,the transmission management apparatus 50, and a program providingapparatus 90. The transmission terminals 10 aa, 10 ab, and so forth,transmit and receive, for example, image data and sound data, as contentdata.

Note that, hereinafter, any one of the transmission terminals 10 aa, 10ab, and so forth, may be referred to as a “transmission terminal 10”,and any one of the displays 120 aa, 120 ab, and so forth, may bereferred to as a “display 120”. A transmission terminal that requests tostart a video conference may be referred to as a “requesting terminal”,and a transmission terminal which is thus requested may be referred toas a “destination terminal”. Also, any one of the relay apparatuses 30 athrough 30 d may be referred to as a “relay apparatus 30”.

Also, transmission terminals 10 that have participated in a videoconference or places where the terminals 10 are located will be referredto as “bases”. The number of bases is the same as the number oftransmission terminals 10 that have participated in the videoconference. However, there may be a plurality of terminals 10 in a spacethat can be regarded as a single place (for example, a single conferenceroom).

The UI providing apparatus 20 transmits layout information (describedlater), mainly for displaying the number of bases, to transmissionterminals 10. For example, the transmission management apparatus 50 or arelay apparatus 30 may function as the UI providing apparatus 20 inaddition to the original function of the transmission managementapparatus 50 or the relay apparatus 30 itself.

Also, the information processing terminal 40 is an apparatus where thefunction of a transmission terminal 10 is implemented by software.Actually, the information processing terminal 40 is implemented in aconfiguration of, for example, a PC (Personal Computer), a tablet-typeterminal, a smartphone, a cell phone, a PDA (Personal DigitalAssistant), an electronic book reading terminal, or the like.

As illustrated in FIG. 2, in the transmission system 1, a managementinformation session 3001 for transmitting and receiving various sorts ofmanagement information is established between a requesting terminal anda destination terminal via the transmission management apparatus 50.

Also, between a requesting terminal and a destination terminal betweenwhich a management information session 3001 is established, 4 respectivesessions are established for transmitting and receiving, via a relayapparatus 30, 4 types of data, i.e., high resolution image data 310,medium resolution image data 320, low resolution image data 330, andsound data 340. Note that in the present embodiment, the 4 sessions willbe referred to as an “image and sound data session 300D” as a whole.

Image data processed in the present embodiment is scalably encoded. Forexample, image data processed in the present embodiment includes lowresolution image data 330, medium resolution image data 320, and highresolution image data 310. As illustrated in FIG. 3, low resolutionimage data 330 has a resolution such as 320 pixels (horizontaldirection) by 180 pixels (vertical direction), medium resolution imagedata 320 has a resolution such as 640 pixels (horizontal direction) by360 pixels (vertical direction), and high resolution image data 310 hasa resolution such as 1280 pixels (horizontal direction) by 720 pixels(vertical direction).

If a band to transmit image data is narrow, low resolution image data330 as a base image is transmitted, and a transmission terminal 10 onthe reception side can display an image of low image quality based onthe transmitted low resolution image data 330.

If a band to transmit image data is relatively wide, low resolutionimage data 330 as a base image and medium resolution image data 320 aretransmitted, and a transmission terminal 10 on the reception side candisplay an image of medium image quality based on the transmitted lowresolution image data 330 and the medium resolution image data 320.

If a band to transmit image data is very wide, low resolution image data330 as a base image, medium resolution image data 320, and highresolution image data 310 are transmitted, and a transmission terminal10 on the reception side can display an image of high image qualitybased on the transmitted low resolution image data 330, the mediumresolution image data 320, and the high resolution image data 310.

In FIG. 1, a relay apparatus 30 relays content data between a pluralityof transmission terminals 10. The transmission management apparatus 50unitarily manages login authentication requested by transmissionterminals 10, transmission statuses of transmission terminals 10, adestination list, a transmission situations in relay apparatuses 30, andso forth. Note that an image expressed by image data may be a movingimage or a static image, or both a moving image and a static image.

A plurality of routers 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d, 70 ab, and 70 cd selectoptimum routes of image data and sound data. Note that hereinafter, anyone of the routers 70 a, 70 b, 70 c, 70 d, 70 ab, and 70 cd may bereferred to as a “router 70”.

The program providing apparatus 90 includes a hard disk (HD) 204 (FIG.6), stores a transmission terminal control program 1000 a (FIG. 7) toimplement various functions of transmission terminals 10, and cantransmit the transmission terminal control programs 1000 a to thetransmission terminals 10.

Also, in the HD204 of the program providing apparatus 90, a relayapparatus program to implement various functions of a relay apparatus 30is stored, and the program providing apparatus 90 can transmit the relayapparatus programs to the relay apparatuses 30.

Also, in the HD204 of the program providing apparatus 90, a transmissionmanagement program to implement various functions of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 is stored, and the program providing apparatus90 can transmit the transmission management program to the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50.

Also, in the HD204 of the program providing apparatus 90, a UI providingapparatus program to implement various functions of the UI providingapparatus 20 is stored, and the program providing apparatus 90 cantransmit the UI providing apparatus program to the UI providingapparatus 20.

Also, in the HD204 of the program providing apparatus 90, an informationprocessing terminal program to implement various functions of theinformation processing terminal 40 is stored, and the program providingapparatus 90 can transmit the information processing terminal program tothe information processing terminal 40.

The transmission terminals 10 aa, 10 ab, 10 ac, and so forth, and therouter 70 a are connected together via a local area network (LAN) 2 a ina manner to enable data transmission. The transmission terminal 10 ba,10 bb, 10 bc, and so forth, and the router 70 b are connected togethervia a LAN 2 b in a manner to enable data transmission.

The LANs 2 a and 2 b are connected together via a private line 2 ab thatincludes the router lab, in a manner to enable data transmission, andare installed in a certain area A. For example, the area A is Japan, theLAN 2 a is installed in a Tokyo office, and the LAN 2 b is installed inan Osaka office.

The transmission terminal 10 ca, 10 cb, 10 cc, and so forth, and therouter 70 c are connected together via a LAN 2 c in a manner to enabledata transmission. The transmission terminal 10 da, 10 db, 10 dc, and soforth, and the router 70 d are connected together via a LAN 2 d in amanner to enable data transmission.

The LANs 2 c and 2 d are connected together via a private line 2 cd thatincludes the router 7 cd, in a manner to enable data transmission, andare installed in a certain area B. For example, the area B is USA, theLAN 2 c is installed in a New York office, and the LAN 2 d is installedin a Washington office. The areas A and B are connected together via theInternet using the routers 70 ab and 70 cd, respectively, in a manner toenable data transmission therebetween.

Also, the relay apparatuses 30, the transmission management apparatus50, the UI providing apparatus 20, the information processing terminal40, and the program providing apparatus 90 are connected to therespective transmission terminals 10 via the Internet 2 i in a manner toenable data transmission. The relay apparatuses 30, the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50, the UI providing apparatus 20, the informationprocessing terminal 40, and the program providing apparatus 90 may beinstalled in the area A or the area B, or in an area other than theareas A and B.

Note that according to the present embodiment, the transmission network2 includes the LANs 2 a and 2 b, the private line 2 ab, the Internet 2i, the private line 2 cd, and the LANs 2 c and 2 d. The transmissionnetwork 2 may include not only zones where wired transmission is carriedout, but also zones where wireless transmission is carried out throughWiFi (Wireless Fidelity), Bluetooth (registered trademark), or the like.

Also, in FIG. 1, the 4 digit figures indicated below each of thetransmission terminals 10, the relay apparatuses 30, the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50, the routers 70, the UI providing apparatus 20,the information processing terminal 40, and the program providingapparatus 90 simply express an IP address in a general IPv4. Forexample, the IP address of the transmission terminal 10 aa is “1.2.1.3”.Instead of IPv4, IPv6 may be used. However, for the sake ofsimplification of description, description will be made using IPv4.

Note that the respective transmission terminals 10 may be used not onlyfor a video conference among a plurality offices or among a plurality ofrooms in the same office, but also for a video conference in the sameroom, or a video conference between an outdoor place and an indoorplace, or between an outdoor place and another outdoor place. If therespective transmission terminals 10 are used outdoor, transmission iscarried out wirelessly through a cell phone network or the like.

FIG. 4 is an outline view of a transmission terminal 10. Below,description will be made assuming the longitudinal direction of thetransmission terminal 10 as an X-axis direction, a directionperpendicular to the X-axis direction on a horizontal plane as a Y-axisdirection, and a direction (vertical direction) perpendicular to theX-axis direction and the Y-axis direction as a Z-axis direction.

As illustrated in FIG. 4, a transmission terminal 10 includes a housing1100, an arm 1200, and a camera housing 1300. A front wall 1110 of thehousing 1100 has an air suction surface (not illustrated) that includesair suction holes, and a rear wall 1120 of the housing 1100 has an airejection surface 1121 that includes air ejection holes. Thereby, as aresult of a cooling fan included in the housing 1100 being driven, anexternal air can be suctioned through the suction surface from the frontside of the transmission terminal 10, and the suctioned air can beejected to the rear side of the transmission terminal 10 through the airejection surface 1121. The right wall 1130 of the housing 1100 has asound collection hole 1131 through which, by a built-in-type microphone114 (FIG. 5) described later, voices, sounds, noises, and so forth canbe collected.

At a side of the housing 1100 near the right wall 1130, an operationpanel 1150 is formed. The operation panel 1150 has a plurality ofoperation buttons 108 a through 108 e, a power switch 109, and an alarmlamp 119, and also, has a sound output surface 1151 that includes soundoutput holes through which sounds that are output from a built-in-typespeaker 115 (FIG. 5) pass. At a side of the housing 1100 near the leftwall 1140, an accommodation section 1160 as a recess to accommodate thearm 1200 and the camera housing 1300 is formed. The right wall 1130 ofthe housing 1100 has connection holes 1132 a through 1132 c foreclectically connecting cables to an external apparatus connectioninterface (I/F) 118 (FIG. 5). The left wall 1140 of the housing 1100 hasa connection hole (not illustrated) for electrically connecting a cable120 c for the external apparatus connection I/F 118 for the display 120.

Hereinafter, any one of the operation buttons 108 a through 108 e willbe referred to as an “operation button 108”, and any one of theconnection holes 1132 a through 1132 c will be referred to as a“connection hole 1132”.

The arm 1200 is installed on the housing 1100 via a torque hinge 1210,so that the arm 1200 is vertically rotatable with respect to the housing1100, in a tilt angle range θ1 of 135 degrees. FIG. 4 indicates that astate of the arm 1200 where the tilt angle θ1 is 90 degrees.

The camera housing 1300 has a built-in-type the camera 112, and it ispossible to take images of a user, a document, a room, and so forththrough the camera 112. Also, the camera housing 1300 has a torque hinge1310. The camera housing 1300 is installed on the arm 1200 through thetorque hinge 1310. The camera housing 1300 is rotatable vertically andhorizontally with respect to the arm 1200, in a panning range of θ2 of±180 degrees and a tilt angle range θ3 of ±45 degrees from the state ofthe camera housing 1300 illustrated in FIG. 4.

Note that the UI providing apparatus 20, the relay apparatuses 30, thetransmission management apparatus 50, the program providing apparatus90, and a maintenance system 100 have outlines the same as a commonserver computer. Therefore, description of the outlines will be omitted.The information processing terminal 40 has an outline the same as acommon PC, a smartphone, a tablet terminal, or the like, and therefore,description of the outline will be omitted.

FIG. 5 illustrates one example of a hardware configuration of atransmission terminal 10. As illustrated in FIG. 5, the transmissionterminal 10 includes a CPU (Central Processing Unit) 101 controlling theentirety of the transmission terminal 10, a ROM (Read-Only Memory) 102storing programs such as an IPL (Initial Program Loader) used to drivethe CPU 101, a RAM (Random Access Memory) 103 used as a work area of theCPU 101, a flash memory 104 storing various sorts of data such as thetransmission terminal control program 1000 a, and image data and sounddata, a solid state drive (SSD) 105 controlling reading various sorts ofdata from the flash memory 104 and writing various sorts of data to theflash memory 104 under the control of the CPU 101, a medium drive 107controlling reading data from a recording medium 106 such as a flashmemory and writing (storing) data to the recording medium 106, theoperation buttons 108 operated for selecting a destination of thetransmission terminal 10, for example, the power switch 109 for turningon and off the power in the transmission terminal 10, and a network I/F111 for data transmission via the transmission network 2 (FIG. 1).

Also, the transmission terminal 10 includes the built-in-type the camera112 to acquire image data by taking an image of a subject under thecontrol of the CPU 101, an image sensor I/F 113 to control driving thecamera 112, the microphone 114 as a built-in-type sound collectiondevice to input sounds, the built-in-type speaker 115 to output sounds,a sound input and output I/F 116 inputting and outputting sound signalsbetween the microphone 114 and the speaker 115 under the control of theCPU 101, a display I/F 117 transmitting image data to an externallyinstalled display 120 under the control of the CPU 101, the externalapparatus connection I/F 118 to connect various external apparatuses,and a bus line 110 such as an address bus, a data bus, and so forth toelectrically connect the above-mentioned respective elements.

A display 120 is a display device using a liquid crystal or an organicelectroluminescence (EL) to display an image of a subject, operationicons, and so forth. The display 120 is connected to the display I/F 117via the cable 120 c. The cable 120 c may be an analog RGB (VGA) signalcable, a component video cable, a cable for HDMI (High-DefinitionMultimedia Interface) (registered trademark), or a DVI (Digital VideoInteractive) signal.

The camera 112 includes a lens and a solid-state image sensing device toacquire image data of an image of a subject by converting light intocharge. As the solid-state image sensing device, a CMOS (ComplementaryMetal Oxide Semiconductor), a CCD (Charge Coupled Device), or the likeis used.

It is possible to connect an external apparatus such as an externallyinstalled camera, an externally installed microphone, an externallyinstalled speaker, and so forth to the external apparatus connection I/F118 through a USB (Universal Serial Bus) cable, or the like.

If an externally installed camera is connected to the external apparatusconnection I/F 118, the CPU 101 drives the externally installed camerain priority to the built-in-type the camera 112. Also, if an externallyinstalled microphone or an externally installed speaker is connected tothe external apparatus connection I/F 118, the CPU 101 drives theexternally installed microphone or the externally installed speaker inpriority to the built-in-type microphone 114 or the built-in-typespeaker 115.

Note that the recording medium 106 is detachable to the transmissionterminal 10. Also, the transmission terminal 10 may use, as anonvolatile memory for reading data and writing data under the controlof the CPU 101, an EEPROM (Electrically Erasable and Programmable ROM),or the like, instead of the flash memory 104.

The transmission terminal control program 1000 a may be a file of aninstallable or executable type, and may be circulated in a form of acomputer readable medium such as the recording medium 106. Also, thetransmission terminal control program 1000 a may be stored in the ROM102 instead of the flash memory 104.

The information processing terminal 40 has a hardware configuration thesame as or similar to the transmission terminal 10, and therefore,description of the hardware configuration will be omitted. However, inthe SSD 105, the information processing terminal program to control theinformation processing terminal 40 is stored.

FIG. 6 is a hardware configuration diagram of any one of thetransmission management apparatus 50, the UI providing apparatus 20, arelay apparatus 30, and the program providing apparatus 90. Asillustrated in FIG. 6, the transmission management apparatus 50 includesa CPU 201 to control the entirety of the transmission managementapparatus 50, a ROM 202 to store programs such as an IPL to drive theCPU 201, a RAM 203 used as a work area of the CPU 201, a HD204 to storevarious sorts of data such as the transmission management program, ahard disk drive (HDD) 205 to control reading various sorts of data fromand writing various sorts of data to the HD204 under the control of theCPU 201, a medium drive 207 to control reading data from and writing(storing) data to (in) a recording medium 206 such as a flash memory, adisplay 208 to display various sorts of information such as a cursor, amenu, a window, a character/letter, an image, and so forth, a networkI/F 209 for data transmission through the transmission network 2 (FIG.1), a keyboard 211 including a plurality of keys for inputtingcharacter/letters, numerical values, various instructions, and so forth,a mouse 212 for selecting or executing various instructions, selecting aprocessing target, moving the cursor, and so forth, a CD-ROM (CompactDisc Read-Only Memory) drive 214 to control reading various sorts ofdata from and writing various sorts of data to a CD-ROM 213 as anexample of a detachable recording medium, and a bus line 210 such as anaddress bus and a data bus to electrically connect the respectiveelements.

Note that the transmission management program may be a file of aninstallable or executable type, and may be circulated in a form of acomputer readable medium such as the recording medium 206 or the CD-ROM213. Also, the transmission management program may be stored in the ROM202 instead of the HD 204.

A relay apparatus 30 has a hardware configuration the same as or similarto the transmission management apparatus 50, and therefore, descriptionof the hardware configuration will be omitted. However, in the HD 204,the relay apparatus program to control the relay apparatus 30 is stored.

Also in this case, the relay apparatus program may be a file of aninstallable or executable type, and may be circulated in a form of acomputer readable medium such as the recording medium 206 or the CD-ROM213. Also, the relay apparatus program may be stored in the ROM 202instead of the HD 204.

Also, the program providing apparatus 90 has a hardware configurationthe same as or similar to the transmission management apparatus 50, andtherefore, description of the hardware configuration will be omitted.However, in the HD 204, the program providing apparatus program tocontrol the program providing apparatus 90 is stored.

Also in this case, the program providing apparatus program may be a fileof an installable or executable type, and may be circulated in a form ofa computer readable medium such as the recording medium 206 or theCD-ROM 213. Also, the program providing apparatus program may be storedin the ROM 202 instead of the HD 204.

Also, the UI providing apparatus 20 has a hardware configuration thesame as or similar to the transmission management apparatus 50, andtherefore, description of the hardware configuration will be omitted.However, in the HD 204, the UI providing apparatus program to controlthe UI providing apparatus 90 and layout information described later isstored.

Also in this case, the UI providing apparatus program and the layoutinformation may be files of an installable or executable type, and maybe circulated in a form of a computer readable medium such as therecording medium 206 or the CD-ROM 213. Also, the UI providing apparatusprogram and the layout information may be stored in the ROM 202 insteadof the HD 204.

Note that as the above-mentioned computer readable recording media, CD-R(Compact Discs Recordable), DVD (Digital Versatile Disks), Blu-raydisks, or the like may be used.

FIG. 7 is a functional block diagram of any one of the terminals,apparatuses and the system included in the transmission system 1. Asillustrated in FIG. 7, a transmission terminal 10, a relay apparatus 30and the transmission management apparatus 50 are connected together viathe transmission network 2 in such a manner as to enable datatransmission. Note that because the relay apparatuses 30 and the programproviding apparatus 90 illustrated in FIG. 1 do not directly relate todata transmission concerning video conferences, the relay apparatus 30and the program providing apparatus 90 are omitted in FIG. 7. Becausethe information processing terminal 40 has a function equivalent to atransmission terminal 10, the transmission terminal 10 in FIG. 7 may bethe information processing terminal 40.

A functional configuration of a transmission terminal 10 will bedescribed. The transmission terminal 10 includes a transmission andreception unit 11, an operation input reception unit 12, a login requestunit 13, an imaging unit 14, a sound input unit 15 a, a sound outputunit 15 b, a display control unit 17, and a storing and reading processunit 19. These elements are functions implemented by the CPU 101executing the transmission terminal control program 1000 a written inthe RAM 103 from the flash memory 104. Also, the transmission terminal10 has a storage unit 1000 implemented by the RAM 103 and the flashmemory 104.

The transmission and reception unit 11 is implemented by the CPU 101 andthe network I/F 111, and transmits various sorts of data and informationto and receives various sorts of data and information from anothertransmission terminal 10, a relay apparatus 30, the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50, and the program providing apparatus 90 via thetransmission network 2.

The transmission and reception unit 11 starts receiving respective itemsof status information that indicate statuses of the respectivetransmission terminals 10 as candidates for connecting destinationsconcerning a video conference, from the transmission managementapparatus 50, before starting the video conference with the desireddestination terminals.

The status information indicates not only an operational status as towhether each transmission terminal 10 is in an online status or anoffline status but also a detailed operational status as to whether eachtransmission terminal 10 is in an online and transmission possiblestatus or in an online and under transmission status, or the like.

Also, the status information indicates not only the operational statusof each transmission terminal 10 but also various statuses of eachtransmission terminal 10 as to whether the cable 120 c is removed fromthe transmission terminal 10, the transmission terminal 10 outputs asound but does not output an image, the transmission terminal 10 is in astate where the transmission terminal 10 is prevented from outputting asound (MUTE), and so forth. However, hereinafter, for the sake of easilyunderstanding the present invention, a case where status informationindicates an operational status of each transmission terminal 10 will bedescribed.

The operation input reception unit 12 is implemented by the CPU 101, theoperation buttons 108, and the power switch 109, and receives user'svarious inputs. For example, if a user turns on the power switch 109,the operation input reception unit 12 receives the power-turning-onoperation, to turn on the power in the transmission terminal 10.

The login request unit 13 is implemented by the CPU 101, and, inresponse to reception of a power-turning-on operation, the login requestunit 13 transmits login request information that indicates a request tologin and a current IP address of the transmission terminal 10, to thetransmission management apparatus 50 from the transmission and receptionunit 11 via the transmission network 2.

Also, if a user operates the power switch 109, from the turned on stateto the turned off state, the operation input reception unit 12completely turns off the power in the transmission terminal 10 after thetransmission and reception unit 11 transmits status information thatindicates to turn off the power to the transmission management apparatus50. Therefore, the transmission management apparatus 50 can know thatthe transmission terminal 10 is switched from the power turned on stateto the power turned off state.

The imaging unit 14 is implemented by the CPU 101, the camera 112, andthe image sensor I/F 113, takes an image of a subject, and outputs imagedata acquired from taking the image to the transmission and receptionunit 11.

The sound input unit 15 a is implemented by the CPU 101 and the soundinput and output I/F 116. A sound signal that represents a soundcollected by the microphone 114 is input to the sound input unit 15 awhich converts the input sound signal into sound data.

The sound output unit 15 b is implemented by the CPU 101 and the soundinput and output I/F 116, convers sound data into a sound signal,outputs the converted sound signal to the speaker 115 which then outputsa corresponding sound.

The display control unit 17 is implemented by the CPU 101 and thedisplay I/F 117, combines respective pieces of image data received bythe transmission and reception unit 11 having different resolutions,transmits the combined image data to the display 120 which then displaysan image expressed by the image data.

Also, the display control unit 17 transmits destination list informationthat the transmission and reception unit 11 receives from thetransmission management apparatus 50 to the display 120 which thusdisplays a corresponding destination list.

The display control unit 17 has an auxiliary area display unit 18. Ifthe transmission terminal 10 is in a full screen display mode that willbe described later, the auxiliary area display unit 18 displays thenumber of bases participating a conference, and so forth, in anauxiliary area of a display screen page.

The storing and reading process unit 19 is implemented by the CPU 101and the SSD 105, and stores various sorts of data in the storage unit1000, and reads various sorts of data from the storage unit 1000.

The storage unit 1000 stores an identifier for identifying thetransmission terminal 10 (also referred to as identificationinformation, and, hereinafter, referred as a “terminal ID”), a password,and so forth. Also, the storage unit 1000 is used as a reception bufferfor storing image data and sound data that are received when thetransmission terminal 10 carries out a video conference with adestination terminal.

Note that the terminal ID according to the present embodiment denotesinformation for uniquely identifying the transmission terminal 10 suchas a language, characters/letters, a symbol, or any one of varioussigns. Also, the terminal ID may be information acquired from combiningat least two of a language, characters/letters, a symbol, and any one ofvarious signs.

A functional configuration of the transmission management apparatus 50will now be described. The transmission management apparatus 50 includesa transmission and reception unit 51, a terminal authentication unit 52,a status management unit 53, a terminal extraction unit 54, a terminalstatus acquisition unit 55, and a storing and reading process unit 59.These units are functions implemented by the CPU 201 that executes thetransmission management program written in the RAM 203 from the HD 204.Also, the transmission management apparatus 50 has a storage unit 5000implemented by the HD 204.

In the storage unit 5000, a terminal authentication management DB 5002that has a terminal authentication management table 5002T such as atable illustrated in FIG. 8 is established. In the terminalauthentication management table 5002T, passwords are associated withrespective terminal IDs of all the transmission terminals 10 managed bythe transmission management apparatus 50 and are managed. For example,the terminal authentication management table 5002T illustrated in FIG. 8indicates a password “aaaa” for a terminal ID “01aa” of a transmissionterminal 10 aa.

Also, in the storage unit 5000, a terminal management DB 5003 that has aterminal management table 5003T such as a table illustrated in FIGS. 9Aand 9B is established. FIG. 9A illustrates the terminal management table5003T where the transmission terminal 10 aa that has the terminal ID“01aa” has logged in, and FIG. 9B illustrates the terminal managementtable 5003T where the transmission terminal 10 aa that has the terminalID “01aa” has transmitted start request information that will bedescribed later.

In the terminal management table 5003T, for the terminal ID of eachtransmission terminal 10, an identifier of the transmission terminal 10(hereinafter, referred to as a “terminal name”), the operational statusof the transmission terminal 10, the received date and time at which thetransmission management apparatus 50 has received login requestinformation for logging in to transmission system 1, and the IP addressof the transmission terminal 10 are associated with each other, and aremanaged.

For example, the terminal management table 5003T illustrated in FIG. 9Aindicates that the transmission terminal 10 aa that has the terminal ID“01aa” has a terminal name “Japan Tokyo office AA terminal”, and theoperational status “online (transmission possible)”, the date and timeat which the transmission management apparatus 50 has received loginrequest information is “13:40, Nov. 10, 2009”, and the transmissionterminal 10 aa has the IP address “1.2.1.3”.

The terminal ID in the terminal management table 5003T is uniquelyassigned to each transmission terminal 10 when the transmission terminal10 is registered with the transmission system 1 before login requestinformation that is transmitted in step S22 of FIG. 11 described lateris transmitted, and the terminal name is registered or changed by anadministrator of the transmission management apparatus 50. Note that theterminal name may be registered or changed according to a request thatis transmitted from the transmission terminal 10 to the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50.

The operational status “online (transmission possible)” denotes a statewhere the transmission terminal 10 has logged in the transmission system1, and has not participated in a video conference. The operationalstatus “online (under transmission)” denotes a state where thetransmission terminal 10 has logged in the transmission system 1, andhas participated in a video conference. The operational status “offline”denotes a state where the transmission terminal 10 has not logged in thetransmission system 1. A transmission terminal 10 that has participatedin a video conference is a transmission terminal 10 that has anoperational status “online (under transmission)”.

Also, in the storage unit 5000, a destination list management DB 5004that has a destination list management table 5004T such as a tableillustrated in FIG. 10 is established. Note that the destination listmanagement DB 5004 corresponds to a destination list management tablestorage unit.

In the destination list management table 5004T, all of the terminal IDsof destination terminals registered as candidates for destinationterminals are associated with the terminal ID of a requesting terminalthat requests to start a video conference, and are managed.

For example, the destination list management table 5004T illustrated inFIG. 10 indicates that candidates for destination terminals to which thetransmission terminal 10 aa that has the terminal ID “01aa” requests tostart a video conference are the transmission terminal 10 ab of theterminal ID “01ab”, the transmission terminal 10 ba of the terminal ID“01ba”, and the transmission terminal 10 db of the terminal ID “01db”.Candidates for destination terminal are added or deleted according to arequest that is transmitted from a transmission terminal 10 to thetransmission management apparatus 50.

In the destination list management table 5004T, candidates fordestination terminals to which a transmission terminal 10 requests tostart a video conference are registered. The transmission terminals 10that can participate in a video conference are not limited to thetransmission terminals 10 registered in the destination list managementtable 5004T.

Also, in the storage unit 5000, the URI (Uniform Resource Identifier)5005 of the UI providing apparatus 20 is stored. The URI 5005 of the UIproviding apparatus 20 is set by an administrator of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 or the UI providing apparatus 20.

The transmission and reception unit 51 is implemented by the CPU 201 andthe network I/F 209, and transmits various sorts of data and informationto and receives various sorts of data and information from atransmission terminal 10, a relay apparatus 30, and the programproviding apparatus 90 via the transmission network 2.

The terminal authentication unit 52 is implemented by the CPU 101, andsearches the terminal authentication management DB 5002 of the storageunit 5000 using the terminal ID and the password included in loginrequest information received by the transmission and reception unit 51as search keys, to carry out terminal authentication by determiningwhether the same terminal ID and password are managed in the terminalauthentication management DB 5002.

The status management unit 53 is implemented by the CPU 101, and, inorder to manage the operational status of a requesting terminal that hastransmitted a login request, associates the operational status, thereceived date and time at which the transmission management apparatus 50has received the login request information, and the IP address with theterminal ID of the requesting terminal, store the associated informationin the terminal management DB 5003 (FIGS. 9A and 9B) to manage thestored information.

Also, the status management unit 53 changes the operational status of atransmission terminal 10 from “online” to “offline” in the terminalmanagement DB 5003 (see FIGS. 9A and 9B) based on the status informationthat indicates to turn off the power transmitted from the transmissionterminal 10 as a result of the user switching the state of the powerswitch of the transmission terminal 10 from the turned on state to theturned off state

The terminal extraction unit 54 is implemented by the CPU 101, andsearches the destination list management DB 5004 (FIG. 10) using theterminal ID of a requesting terminal that has transmitted a loginrequest as a search key to extract the terminal IDs of candidates fordestination terminals of the requesting terminal.

Also, the terminal extraction unit 54 searches the destination listmanagement DB 5004 (FIG. 10) using the terminal ID of a requestingterminal that has transmitted a login request as a search key to extractthe terminal IDs of other requesting terminals that register theterminal ID of the requesting terminal as candidates for destinationterminals.

The terminal status acquisition unit 55 is implemented by the CPU 101,and searches the terminal management DB 5003 (FIGS. 9A and 9B) using theterminal IDs of candidates for destination terminals extracted by theterminal extraction unit 54 as search keys, to read the operationalstatuses for the thus detected terminal IDs.

Thereby, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 can acquire theoperational statuses of candidates for destination terminals of arequesting terminal that has transmitted a login request. Also, theterminal status acquisition unit 55 searches the terminal management DB5003 using a terminal ID extracted by the terminal extraction unit 54 asa search key, to acquire the operational status of a requesting terminalthat has transmitted a login request.

The storing and reading process unit 59 is implemented by the CPU 101and the HDD 205, stores various sorts of data in the storage unit 5000,and read various sorts of data from the storage unit 5000.

A functional configuration the UI providing apparatus 20 will bedescribed. The transmission and reception unit 21 is implemented by theCPU 201 and the network I/F 209, and transmits various sorts of data andinformation to and receives various sorts of data and information from atransmission terminal 10 via the transmission network 2.

The server unit 22 is implemented by the CPU 101, acquires a layoutinformation request signal from a transmission terminal 10, to transmitlayout information 2000L that is read from the storage unit 2000 by thestoring and reading process unit 23 to the transmission terminal 10 viathe transmission and reception unit 21.

The storing and reading process unit 23 is implemented by the CPU 101,stores various sorts of data in the storage unit 2000, and reads varioussorts of information from the storage unit 2000. The storage unit 2000is implemented by the HDD 205, and mainly stores the layout information2000L.

Next, operation of the transmission system 1 according to the presentembodiment will be described. FIG. 11 is a sequence diagram illustratinga preparation stage operation carried out until a transmission terminal10 enters a prepared state where the transmission terminal 10 willparticipate in a video conference. Note that FIG. 11 illustrates anexample where the transmission terminal 10 aa comes to enter theprepared state. In the preparation stage operation, various sorts ofinformation is transmitted and received in the management informationsession 3001 (FIG. 2).

First, in step S21, when a user of the transmission terminal 10 aa hasturned on the power switch 109 of the transmission terminal 10 aa, theoperation input reception unit 12 receives the power-turning-onoperation to turn on the power. Then, in step S22, in response to thereception of the power-turning-on operation, the login request unit 13transmits login request information that indicates a login request tothe transmission management apparatus 50 through the transmission andreception unit 11 of the transmission terminal 10 aa via thetransmission network 2.

The login request information includes the terminal ID and the passwordto identify the transmission terminal 10 aa that has transmitted thelogin request. The terminal ID and the password are read by the storingand reading process unit 19 from the storage unit 1000.

Note that when the login request information transmitted from thetransmission terminal 10 aa has been received by the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50, the transmission management apparatus 50 canknow the IP address of the transmission terminal 10 aa on thetransmission side.

Next, in step S23, the terminal authentication unit 52 of thetransmission management apparatus 50 carries out a terminalauthentication operation by searching the terminal authenticationmanagement DB 5002 (FIG. 8) of the storage unit 5000 using the terminalID and the password included in the login request information receivedthrough the transmission and reception unit 51 as search keys todetermine whether the terminal authentication management DB 5002 hasmanaged the same terminal ID and password as the search keys.

If the terminal authentication unit 52 has determined that the terminalauthentication management DB 5002 has not managed the same terminal IDand password as the search keys, that is, if it is determined that thelogin request is not a login request from a transmission terminal 10that has legitimate usage authority, the transmission and reception unit51 transmits authentication result information that indicates theauthentication result acquired by the terminal authentication unit 52 tothe transmission terminal 10 aa that has requested login via thetransmission network 2, and thus, the operation in the preparation stageis ended.

On the other hand, if the terminal authentication unit 52 has determinedthat the terminal authentication management DB 5002 has managed the sameterminal ID and password as the search keys, that is, it is determinedthat the login request is a login request from a transmission terminal10 that has legitimate usage authority, the status management unit 53associates the terminal ID and the operational status of thetransmission terminal 10 aa, the received date and time at which thelogin request information has been received, and the IP address of thetransmission terminal 10 aa with each other, and stores the associateditems of information in the terminal management DB 5003 (FIG. 9A) instep S24.

Thus, as illustrated in FIG. 9A, the terminal management table 5003Tassociates the terminal ID “01aa”, the operational status “online(transmission possible)”, the received date and time “2009.11.10.13:40”,and the IP address “1.2.1.3” of the transmission terminal 10 aa witheach other, and manages the associated items of information.

Next, in step S25, the transmission and reception unit 51 of thetransmission management apparatus 50 transmits authentication resultinformation that indicates the authentication result acquired by theterminal authentication unit 52 to the transmission terminal 10 aa thathas requested login via the transmission network 2. Also, thetransmission management apparatus 50 transmits, together with theauthentication result information, or before or after the transmissionof the authentication result information, the URI 5005 of the UIproviding apparatus 20 to the transmission terminal 10 aa. Thereby, thetransmission terminal 10 aa comes to be able to access the UI providingapparatus 20.

The URI 5005 of the UI providing apparatus 20 indicates the place wherethe layout information 2000L is stored in the transmission network 2.For example, the URI has a format such as “IP address (or a domainname)+folder name+file name”, and can have any format as long as it ispossible to access the UI providing apparatus 20.

As a result of the URI 5005 being not stored by each transmissionterminal 10, it is sufficient for the administrator of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 to change the URI stored by the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50, even if the UI providing apparatus 20 isreplaced, the URI is changed, or the like. That is, because it is notnecessary to change the URL in all the transmission terminals 10, it ispossible to reduce the management load.

Next, in step S26, the terminal extraction unit 54 of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 searches the destination list management DB 5004(FIG. 10) using the terminal ID “01aa” of the transmission terminal 10aa that has requested login as a search key, to extract the terminal IDsof candidates for destinations of the transmission terminal 10 aa.

In this example, the respective terminal IDs “01ab”, “01ba”, and “01db”of the transmission terminals 10 ab, 10 ba, and 10 db that aredestination terminals of the transmission terminal 10 aa having theterminal ID “01aa” are extracted.

Next, in step S27, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 of thetransmission management apparatus 50 acquires the respective operationalstatuses of the transmission terminals 10 ab, 10 ba, and 10 db bysearching the terminal management DB 5003 (FIG. 9A) using the terminalID “01ab”, “01ba”, and “01db” of the candidates for destinationterminals extracted by the terminal extraction unit 54 as search keys,to read the operational statuses, i.e., “offline”, “online (transmissionpossible)”, or “online (under transmission)”, for the respectiveterminal IDs extracted by the terminal extraction unit 54.

Next, in step S28, the transmission and reception unit 51 of thetransmission management apparatus 50 transmits destination statusinformation that includes the terminal IDs “01ab”, “01ba”, and “01db”used in step S27 as the search keys, and the respective operationalstatuses, i.e., “offline”, “online (transmission possible)”, or “online(under transmission)”, of the corresponding transmission terminals 10ab, 10 ba, 10 db to the transmission terminal 10 aa via the transmissionnetwork 2.

Thereby, the transmission terminal 10 aa can know the current respectiveoperational statuses, i.e., “offline”, “online (transmission possible)”,or “online (under transmission)”, of the transmission terminal 10 ab, 10ba, and 10 db that are candidates for destination terminals.

Also, in step S29, the terminal extraction unit 54 of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 searches the destination list management DB 5004(FIG. 10) using the terminal ID “01aa” of the transmission terminal 10aa that has requested login as a search key, to extract the terminal IDsof other transmission terminals 10 each of which registers the terminalID “01aa” of the transmission terminal 10 aa as a candidate for adestination terminal. For example, in the destination list managementtable 5004T illustrated in FIG. 10, the terminal IDs “01ab”, “01ba”, and“01db” are extracted.

Next, in step S30, the status management unit 53 of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 searches the terminal management DB 5003 (FIG.9A) using the terminal ID “01aa” of the transmission terminal 10 aa thathas requested login as a search key, to acquire the operational status“online (transmission possible)” of the transmission terminal 10 aa thathas requested login.

Next, in steps S31-1 and S31-2, the transmission and reception unit 51of the transmission management apparatus 50 transmits destination statusinformation that includes the terminal ID “01aa” and the operationalstatus “online (transmission possible)” of the transmission terminal 10aa acquired in step S30, to the transmission terminals 10 ba and 10 dbwhich have the operational statuses “online” in the terminal managementDB 5003 (FIG. 9A) from among the respective transmission terminals 10ab, 10 ba, and 10 db respectively identified by the terminals ID “01ab”,“01ba”, and “01db” extracted in S29.

Note that, when the destination status information will be transmittedto the transmission terminals 10 ba and 10 db, the transmission andreception unit 51 reads the IP addresses of the transmission terminalsmanaged in the terminal management table 5003T illustrated in FIG. 9Abased on the respective terminal IDs “01ba” and “01db”.

Thus, it is possible to report the terminal ID “01aa” and theoperational status “online (transmission possible)” of the transmissionterminal 10 aa that has requested login to the transmission terminals 10db and 10 ba each of which can transmit data to the transmissionterminal 10 aa that has requested login as a destination.

Also, the display control unit 17 of the transmission terminal 10 aa canallow the user to know the transmission terminal 10 that hasparticipated in or can participate in the video conference by, forexample, highlighting the information item of the transmission terminal10 db that has participated in or can participate in the videoconference, that is, the information item of the transmission terminal10 db that has the operational status “online (under transmission)” or“online (transmission possible)” on the display 120 from amonginformation items of the destination list displayed on the display 120,when step S28 of the preparation operation has been completed.

FIG. 12 is a sequence diagram illustrating a conference participatingoperation carried out until a transmission terminal 10 enters aparticipated state where the transmission terminal 10 has participatedin the video conference. Note that FIG. 12 illustrates an example wherethe transmission terminal 10 aa enters a participated state. In theconference participating operation, various sorts of information istransmitted and received in the management information session 3001(FIG. 2).

First, in step S41, as a result of the user pressing an operation button108 (FIG. 4) to select to participate in the video conference, theoperation input reception unit 12 receives a request to participate inthe video conference with the transmission terminal 10 db. Note that ifthe transmission terminal 10 aa is the information processing terminal40, the operation input reception unit 12 receives a request toparticipate in the video conference as a result of a hardware key or asoftware key displayed on a touch panel of the information processingterminal 40, instead of the operation button 108, being pressed.

In step S42, in response to the request, the transmission and receptionunit 11 of the transmission terminal 10 aa transmits participationrequest information that includes the terminal ID “01aa” of thetransmission terminal 10 aa and the terminal ID “01db” of thetransmission terminal 10 db, and indicates to participate in the videoconference to the transmission management apparatus 50.

Thereby, the transmission and reception unit 51 of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 can receive the participation requestinformation and can know the IP address “1.2.1.3” of the transmissionterminal 10 aa that has transmitted the information.

Next, in step S43, the status management unit 53 of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 searches the terminal management DB 5003 usingthe terminal ID “01aa” of the transmission terminal 10 aa included inthe participation request information as a search key to set theoperational status of the transmission terminal 10 aa that has requestedto participate in the video conference to be “online (undertransmission)”. Thus, the operational status in the terminal managementtable 5003T is updated (FIG. 9B).

Next, in step S44, the transmission and reception unit 51 of thetransmission management apparatus 50 transmits start request informationthat includes the terminal ID “01aa” of the transmission terminal 10 aato the transmission terminal 10 db through the transmission network 2.Thereby, the transmission terminal 10 db can know which transmissionterminal 10 has requested to participate in the video conference.

Although detailed description will be omitted for the sake of easilyunderstanding the embodiment, the transmission and reception unit 51 ofthe transmission management apparatus 50 transmits start requestinformation that includes the terminal ID “01aa” of the transmissionterminal 10 aa also to the transmission terminal 10 cb through thetransmission network 2 because also the operational status of thetransmission terminal 10 cb is “online (under transmission)” in theterminal management DB 5003 illustrated in FIG. 9B.

Next, in step S45, the transmission terminal 10 db transmits receptioncompletion information that indicates that reception of the startrequest information has been completed, from the transmission andreception unit 11 to the transmission management apparatus 50 via thetransmission network 2.

Next, in step S46, the transmission and reception unit 51 of thetransmission management apparatus 50 transmits relay start requestinformation that indicates a request to start relaying to the relayapparatus 30 via the transmission network 2. The relay start requestinformation includes the respective IP addresses “1.2.1.3” and “1.3.2.4”of the transmission terminal 10 aa and the transmission terminal 10 db.

Thereby, in step S47, the relay apparatus 30 establishes a session fortransmitting 3 types, i.e., low resolution, medium resolution, and highresolution, of image data, and sound data between the transmissionterminals 10 aa and 10 db. Thus, the transmission terminal 10 aa comesto be able to participate in the video conference with the transmissionterminal 10 db.

Also, in step S48, the transmission and reception unit 51 of thetransmission management apparatus 50 transmits terminal status changeinformation that includes the terminal ID “01aa” and the operationalstatus “online (under transmission) of the transmission terminal 10 aato the respective transmission terminals 10 registered in the terminalmanagement DB 5003 (FIG. 9B). Thereby, the respective transmissionterminals 10 that have received the terminal status change informationcan, as appropriate, store and display the operational status of thetransmission terminal 10 aa of the terminal ID “01aa”.

FIG. 13 is a sequence diagram illustrating a data transmission operationbetween transmission terminals 10. Note that in the data transmissionoperation illustrated in FIG. 13, image data and sound data aretransmitted and received in an image and sound data session 300D (FIG.2).

After the session is established between the transmission terminals 10aa and 10 db as described above with reference to FIG. 12, thetransmission terminal 10 aa transmits image data taken by the imagingunit 14 and sound data converted from a sound signal that is input tothe sound input unit 15 a to the relay apparatus 30 through thetransmission and reception unit 11 in step S60.

In steps S61-1 and S61-2, the relay apparatus 30 that has received theimage data and the sound data from the transmission terminal 10 aatransmits the received image data and sound data to the respectivetransmission terminals 10 aa and 10 db that have participated in thevideo conference.

In steps S62-1 and S62-2, the respective transmission terminals 10 aaand 10 db that have received the image data and the sound data from therelay apparatus 30 display images expressed by the received image dataon the displays 120 through the display control units 17, and outputsounds expressed by the received sound data from the speakers 115through the sound output units 15 b.

Next, in step S63, the transmission terminal 10 db transmits image datataken by the imaging unit 14 and sound data converted from a soundsignal that is input to the sound input unit 15 a to the relay apparatus30 through the transmission and reception unit 11.

In steps S64-1 and S64-2, the relay apparatus 30 that has received theimage data and the sound data from the transmission terminal 10 dbtransmits the received image data and sound data to the respectivetransmission terminals 10 aa and 10 db that have participated in thevideo conference.

In steps S65-1 and S65-2, the respective transmission terminals 10 aaand 10 db that have received the image data and the sound data from therelay apparatus 30 display images expressed by the received image dataon the displays 120 through the display control units 17, and outputsounds expressed by the received sound data from the speakers 115through the sound output units 15 b.

Thus, the transmission terminals 10 aa and 10 db can carry out the videoconference through the relay apparatus 30. Note that in FIG. 13, for thesake of easily understanding the present embodiment, the transmissionterminals 10 that participate in the video conference are the twotransmission terminals 10 aa and 10 db. However, transmission terminals10 that participate in a video conference can be three or moretransmission terminals. Also in this case, image data and sound data aretransmitted in the same way as the data transmission operationillustrated in FIG. 13.

Displaying an image in a transmission terminal 10 will be described. Thedisplay control unit 17 according to the present embodiment has twodisplay modes, i.e., a full screen display mode and an informationdisplay mode.

First, with reference to FIG. 14, the full screen display mode will bedescribed. FIG. 14 illustrates one example of a screen page displayed onthe display 120 (FIG. 4) in the full screen display mode. A screen pageis displayed in the full screen display mode as a result of the sessionbeing established in step S47 of FIG. 12, and transmission and receptionof image data and sound data being started. That is, from among the twodisplay modes, the full screen display mode is a display mode mainlyused during a video conference.

In the full screen display mode, the display control unit 17 of thetransmission terminal 10 displays all the images transmitted from therespective transmission terminals 10 that have participated in the videoconference on the display 120. If one image area becomes smaller as aresult of all the images being displayed together, the number of theimages corresponding to a predetermined upper limit are displayed.

To the display screen page illustrated in FIG. 14, one first image area500 that is relatively wide and a plurality of second image areas 510that are relatively narrow are assigned. For example, in the respectivesecond image areas 510, images expressed by image data transmitted fromthe respective transmission terminals 10 that have participated in thevideo conference are displayed. In the first image area 500, an imageexpressed by image data transmitted from a main transmission terminal 10from among the transmission terminals 10 that have participated in thevideo conference is displayed.

For example, the display control unit 17 identifies, as the maintransmission terminal 10, a transmission terminal 10 that hastransmitted sound data that expresses a voice from among respectivereceived pieces of sound data received from the transmission terminals10 that have participated in the video conference. Sound data thatexpresses a voice means sound data determined to have a voice period, asa result of the respective received pieces of sound data being processedto determine whether the respective received pieces of sound datainclude the voice period. Note that detection of the voice period can beimplemented using known technology (for example, see the above-mentioneddocument “Voice Recognition”, written by Yasunaga Niimi, published byKyoritsu Shuppan Co., Ltd., 1979).

Note that the display screen page illustrated in FIG. 14 is merely oneexample. In the full screen display mode, it is possible to displayrespective images in such a manner that all of a plurality of imageareas have the same size, display an image of a main transmissionterminal 10 throughout the whole area of the display 120, or the like.

Next, the information display mode will be described. As a result of,for example, a user operating an operation button 108 (FIG. 4), it ispossible to switch between the two display modes. Note that if thetransmission terminal 10 is the information processing terminal 40, itis possible to switch between the two display modes as a result of ahardware key or a software key displayed on a touch panel of theinformation processing terminal 40, instead of an operation button 108,being pressed or touched.

FIG. 15 illustrates one example of a screen page displayed on thedisplay 120 (FIG. 4) in the information display mode. As illustrated inFIG. 15, in the information display mode, the display control unit 17 ofthe transmission terminal 10 displays terminal information that includesat least the terminal names and the terminal IDs of the respectivetransmission terminals 10 that have participated in the video conferenceon the display 120.

To the display screen page illustrated in FIG. 15, an image display area520 for displaying an image, and a terminal information display area 530for displaying terminal information. For example, in the terminalinformation display area 530, a list of items of terminal information ofthe transmission terminals 10 that have participated in the videoconference is displayed.

Note that, in the list of items of terminal information, an item ofterminal information that does not include a terminal name corresponds atransmission terminal 10 that has not been registered as a candidate fora destination terminal of the transmission terminal 10 that displays thedisplay screen page in the destination list management DB 5004 (FIG.10).

For example, in the display screen page illustrated in FIG. 15, becausethe transmission terminal 10 db is registered as a candidate for adestination terminal of the transmission terminal 10 aa in thedestination list management DB 5004, the terminal name is displayed. Incontrast thereto, because the transmission terminal 10 cb is notregistered as a candidate for a destination terminal of the transmissionterminal 10 aa in the destination list management DB 5004, the terminalname is not displayed.

In the image display area 520, an image expressed by image data of themain transmission terminal 10 from among the transmission terminals 10that have participated in the video conference is displayed. Forexample, the display control unit 17 identifies, as the maintransmission terminal 10, the transmission terminal 10 that hastransmitted sound data that expresses a voice from among the receivedpieces of sound data from the transmission terminals 10 that haveparticipated in the video conference. Also, the display control unit 17may identify a selected transmission terminal 10 as the maintransmission terminal if the operation input reception unit 12 receivesa selection operation for one transmission terminal 10 from among thetransmission terminals 10 that have participated in the video conferencein response to the corresponding user's operation of a operation button108. Note that if the transmission terminal 10 is the informationprocessing terminal 40, the information processing terminal 40identifies the selected transmission terminal 10 as the maintransmission terminal 10 as a result of a hardware key or a software keydisplayed on a touch panel of the information processing terminal 40,instead of an operation button 108, being pressed.

FIG. 16 is a sequence diagram illustrating a terminal informationdisplaying operation of displaying terminal information in the terminalinformation display area 530 when the transmission terminal 10 hasswitched the display mode into the information display mode. Note that,in the terminal information displaying operation illustrated in FIG. 16,various sorts of information is transmitted and received in a managementinformation session 3001 (FIG. 2).

First, in step S70, the transmission terminal 10 transmits a terminalinformation request signal that requests terminal information of thetransmission terminals 10 that have participated in the video conferenceto the transmission management apparatus 50.

In step S71, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 that has receivedthe terminal information request signal of the transmission managementapparatus 50 searches the terminal management DB 5003 (FIG. 9B) of thestorage unit 5000 using the IP address of the transmission terminal 10that has transmitted the terminal information request signal as a searchkey to acquire the terminal ID of the transmission terminal that hastransmitted the terminal information request signal.

Next, in step S72, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 searches theterminal management DB 5003 to retrieve the terminal IDs and theterminal names for which the operational statuses are “online (undertransmission)”. In the present embodiment, the terminal IDs retrieved bythe terminal status acquisition unit 55 are “01aa”, “01cb”, and “01db”.Note that the operational status of the transmission terminal having theterminal ID “01aa” is set as “online (under transmission)” in step S43of FIG. 12 (FIG. 9B).

Next, in step S73, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 searches thedestination list management DB 5004 (FIG. 10) of the storage unit 5000using the terminal ID (in the present embodiment, “01aa”) detected instep S71 as a search key to acquire the terminal IDs of candidates fordestination terminals of the transmission terminal 10 that hastransmitted the terminal information request signal.

For example, assuming that the terminal ID of the transmission terminal10 that has transmitted the terminal information request signal is“01aa”, the terminal IDs retrieved by the terminal status acquisitionunit 55 are “01ab”, “01ba”, and “01db”.

Next, in step S74, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 determineswhether the respective terminal IDs retrieved in step S72 are includedin the terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 that has transmittedthe terminal information request signal and the terminal IDs retrievedin step S73. Concerning the terminal IDs from among the respectiveterminal IDs retrieved in step S72 determined to be included in theterminal IDs of the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted theterminal information request signal and the terminal IDs retrieved instep S73, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 causes thetransmission and reception unit 51 to transmit the correspondingterminal IDs and terminal names to the transmission terminal 10 that hastransmitted the terminal information request signal. In contrastthereto, concerning the terminal IDs from among the respective terminalIDs retrieved in step S72 determined to be not included in the terminalID of the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted the terminalinformation request signal and the terminal IDs retrieved in step S73,the terminal status acquisition unit 55 causes the transmission andreception unit 51 to transmit the corresponding terminal IDs to thetransmission terminal 10 that has transmitted the terminal informationrequest signal.

For example, if the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted theterminal information request signal has the terminal ID “01aa”, theterminal IDs “01aa” and “01db” and the terminal names “Japan Tokyooffice AA terminal” and “USA Washington office DB terminal” of thetransmission terminal 10 aa and the transmission terminal 10 db, and theterminal ID “01cb” of the transmission terminal 10 cb are transmitted tothe transmission terminal 10 aa that has transmitted the terminalinformation request signal.

In step S75, the display control unit 17 that has received the responseof the transmission terminal 10 displays the corresponding contents inthe terminal information display area 530 as illustrated in the displayscreen page illustrated in FIG. 15.

Displaying the number of bases, and so forth, in the full screen displaymode will be described. From the display screen page of the full screendisplay mode illustrated in FIG. 14, a participant of the videoconference can easily know the other participants who have participatedin the conference if the number of the transmission terminals 10 thathave participated in the conference is small. However, if the number ofthe transmission terminals 10 that have participated in the conferencebecomes greater, it is not possible for a participant of the videoconference to easily know the other participants who have participatedin the conference. This point will now be described with reference todrawings.

FIG. 17A illustrates one example of a display screen page in the fullscreen display mode when the number of bases is 4. The display screenpage of FIG. 17A has a wider first image area 171, and 3 second imageareas 172 narrower than the first image area 171. In the same way asFIG. 14, in each second image area 172, images expressed by image datatransmitted from the respective transmission terminals 10 that haveparticipated in the video conference are displayed, while in the firstimage area 171, an image expressed by image data transmitted from themain transmission terminal 10 from among the transmission terminals 10that have participated in the video conference is displayed.

If the number of bases is on the order of 4, it is not impossible for auser to identify a participant from one second image area 172. However,if, as illustrated in FIG. 17B, the number of bases becomes greater, itis difficult for a participant to identify the other participants. FIG.17B illustrates one example of a display screen page in the full screendisplay mode when the number of bases is 9.

Further, in consideration of usefulness, it is desired to set an upperlimit (referred to as a “display upper limit”) for the number of basesthat the display 120 displays simultaneously. However, the number ofbases (referred to as a “base upper limit”) among which transmissionterminals 10 can carry out a video conference may not be the same as thedisplay upper limit. If the display upper limit is greater than or equalto the base upper limit, each transmission terminal 10 can display theimages of all the bases on the display 120. However, if the displayupper limit is less than the base upper limit, it is not possible forsome bases to be displayed on the transmission terminal 10.

There is a case where the terminal names and the terminal IDs of thetransmission terminals 10 of all the bases can be displayed, as a resultof the user operating an operation button 108 (FIG. 4) to switch thedisplay mode into the information display mode as illustrated in FIG.16. However, in this case, the user is required to perform the operationto implement the switching.

Further, during the information display mode, because the image of onemain base is displayed while the images of the other bases are notdisplayed, it is not possible to know the situations in the other bases.

Therefore, in the transmission terminal 10 according to the presentembodiment, the number of bases that have participated in the videoconference is displayed while the full screen display mode is kept.Therefore, a participant of a video conference can know the number ofbases in a real-time manner while the full screen display mode is kept.

FIG. 18 illustrates one example of a display screen page where thenumber of bases is displayed in the full screen display mode. In theauxiliary area display unit 18 (FIG. 7) displays the number of bases inan auxiliary area 173 in the full screen display mode. In FIG. 18, theauxiliary area 173 is a belt-like blank space at the top of the displayscreen page. However, the auxiliary area 173 may be a belt-like blankspace at the right end, the left end, or the bottom end of the displayscreen page, or may be displayed in the image in a superimposing manner.

The auxiliary area 173 is segmented into a first area ar1 through asixth area ar6. In the first area ar1, the terminal ID of thetransmission terminal 10 that displays the display screen page isdisplayed. A user who wishes to participate in the same video conferenceas the transmission terminal 10 that displays the display screen pagecan query the displayed terminal ID, and input the acquired terminal IDfrom the transmission terminal 10 that the user is operating or selectthe acquired terminal ID displayed on the transmission terminal 10 thatthe user is operating to participate in the video conference. In thesecond area ar2, the number of bases (the number of the participants) isdisplayed. In the third area ar3, the period of time elapsed from whenthe session was established is displayed. In the fourth area ar4, anyinformation can be displayed. In the fifth area ar5, network bandinformation (i.e., respective communications rates in the uplink and thedownlink) is displayed. In the sixth area ar6, cursor buttons 1736 aredisplayed.

The cursor buttons 1736 include an upper triangle button 1736 u and alower triangle button 1736 d. The upper triangle button 1736 u has ablack color while the lower triangle button 1736 d has a white color. Itis possible for the user to operate the upper triangle button 1736 u butit is not possible for the user to operate the lower triangle button1736 d.

Note that it is desirable that the auxiliary area 173 is displayed in asemitransparent manner so that even if image data transmitted andreceived among the bases overlaps the auxiliary area 173, the visibilitycan be easily maintained.

Note that the number of bases may be displayed at any one of the firstthrough sixth areas. If the auxiliary area 173 is not segmented, thenumber of bases may be displayed at any position in the auxiliary area173. However, as a result of the auxiliary area 173 being segmented,visibility of the user for the display screen page is improved.

The cursor buttons 1736 in the sixth area ar6 are icons for the user toindicate that it is possible to switch into an auxiliary area 173 in asimple display manner by operating an operation button 108 (FIG. 2) ofthe transmission terminal 10. Hereinafter, the auxiliary area 173 ofFIG. 18 will be referred to as an “auxiliary area 173 in a standardmanner” to distinguish the auxiliary areas 173 in the two displaymanners.

That is, according to an initial setting of the transmission terminal10, the various sorts of information of the first area art through thesixth area ar6 of FIG. 18 is displayed in the auxiliary area 173.However, the user can switch the auxiliary area 173 in the standardmanner into the auxiliary area 173 in the simple display manner, andthereafter, the user can perform such a setting as to not display theauxiliary area 173, by operating an operation button 108 (or operating atouch panel or the like) to press the upper triangle button 1736 u.Details will be described with reference to FIG. 24.

Note that if the transmission terminal 10 is the information processingterminal 40, it is possible to not display the various sorts ofinformation of the first area ar1 through the sixth area ar6 in theauxiliary area 173 as a result of a hardware key or a software keydisplayed on a touch panel of the information processing terminal 40,instead of the operation button 108, being pressed.

In FIG. 18, images of 4 bases are displayed on the display 120.Therefore, the number of bases in the second area ar2 is “4”. The usercan know that the number of bases that have participated in the videoconference at a glance.

FIG. 19 illustrates another example of a display screen page where thenumber of bases is displayed in the full screen display mode. In FIG.19, the same elements as the elements of FIG. 18 have the same orsimilar functions, and therefore, different points will be described.

In FIG. 19, the display screen page is divided into nine areas. Also,the number of second areas ar2 is “9”. Therefore, even if the number ofbases increases, the user can know the number of bases that haveparticipated in the video conference at a glance.

For the sake of convenience of description, it is assumed that thedisplay upper limit in the transmission terminal 10 is “9”. When thedisplay upper limit in the transmission terminal 10 is “9”, 10 or moretransmission terminals 10 may be participating in the video conference.In this case, the transmission terminal 10 keeps the number of imagesdisplayed in the full screen display mode as “9” as it is, while thetransmission terminal 10 displays the number of transmission terminals10 that have participated in the video conference in the second area ar2as the number of bases.

FIG. 20 illustrates one example of a display screen page where thenumber of images displayed in the full screen display mode is differentfrom the number of bases displayed in the second area ar2. In FIG. 20,while the number of images displayed in the full screen display mode is“9”, the number of bases displayed in the second area ar2 is “15”. Thus,even when the number of bases that have participated in a videoconference exceeds the display upper limit, the user can know the numberof bases that have participated in the video conference at a glance.

The layout (i.e., the arrangement) in the auxiliary area 173 isprescribed in the layout information 2000L (FIG. 7) stored in thestorage unit 2000 of the UI providing apparatus 20. The layoutinformation 2000L is described based on a language or a standard such asHTML, JavaScript (registered trademark), XML, CSS, or the like.

According to the layout information 2000L, the position of the auxiliaryarea 173, the manner that the auxiliary area 173 is segmented into thefirst area through the sixth area having respective fixed sizes, andrespective items of information displayed in the first area ar1 throughthe sixth area ar6 are determined. Therefore, the transmission terminal10 that has acquired the layout information 2000L from the UI providingapparatus 20 can set various sorts of information in the first area ar1through the sixth area ar6, and display the information in the firstarea ar1 through the sixth area ar6.

As illustrated in FIGS. 17A and 17B, and so forth, the arrangement(layout) in which the transmission terminal 10 displays image datareceived from the destination terminals on the display 120 in the fullscreen display mode is previously determined depending on the number ofbases, and so forth. In contrast thereto, the layout information 2000Lis defined separately from the layout of image data. Therefore, it ispossible to determine information to be arranged in the auxiliary area173 and the arrangement in the auxiliary area 173 without beinginfluenced by the layout of image data. That is, the transmissionterminal 10 can display the first area ar1 through the sixth area ar6 inthe auxiliary area independently from image data, and therefore, even ifthe layout of image data is changed, the auxiliary area 173 is notinfluenced by the change.

FIG. 21 illustrates one example of the auxiliary area 173 in the simpledisplay manner. In FIG. 21, the number of bases is the same as FIG. 18.However, information concerning transmission statuses in the firstthrough sixth areas ar1 through ar6 is displayed in a simplified manner.

In the auxiliary area 173 in the simple display manner, informationconcerning what is displayed in each area is not displayed, and, mainly,the first area ar1 displays the contact ID, the second areas ar2displays the number of bases, the third area displays the clock time,and the fifth area ar5 displays the band.

The cursor buttons 1736 in the sixth area ar6 are changed in the formfrom the auxiliary area 173 in the standard manner. In the auxiliaryarea 173 in the simple display manner, each of both the upper triangularbutton 1736 u and the lower triangular button 1736 d has a black color.The user can operate either one of the upper and lower triangularbuttons. The lower triangular button is used to switch the form of theauxiliary area 173 into the standard manner. The upper triangular buttonis used to not display the auxiliary area 173 in the simple displaymanner (not display the auxiliary area 173 in the standard mannereither).

The area occupied by the auxiliary area 173 in the simple display mannerin the display 120 is reduced from the auxiliary area 173 in thestandard manner, and therefore, it is possible to improve the visibilityof image data while displaying the information of transmission statusesin the auxiliary area 173.

Note that it is desirable that also the auxiliary area 173 in the simpledisplay manner is displayed in a semitransparent manner the same as theauxiliary area 173 in the standard manner.

FIG. 22 is one example of a sequence diagram illustrating a procedure inwhich the transmission system 1 displays the number of bases when thetransmission terminal 10 is in the full screen display mode. Theprocedure of FIG. 22 is carried out after the session is established instep S47 of FIG. 12 even when the user does not operate the operationbutton 108 (FIG. 4) or the like. That is, in the transmission terminal10, an initial setting to display the auxiliary area 173 has been set.

The procedure of FIG. 22 may also be carried out as a result of, afterthe session is established in step S47, the user pressing an operationbutton 108. Note that, in this regard, if the transmission terminal 10is the information processing terminal 40, the procedure of FIG. 22 iscarried out as a result of a hardware key or a software key displayed ona touch panel of the information processing terminal 40, instead of theoperation button 108, being pressed.

First, in step S80, the transmission terminal 10 designates the URI ofthe UI providing apparatus 20 acquired in step S25 of FIG. 11 totransmit a layout information request signal (one example of anarrangement information request) for requesting the layout information2000L to the UI providing apparatus 20. Note that, instead of acquiringthe URI of the UI providing apparatus 20 in step S25 of FIG. 11, the URIof the UI providing apparatus 20 may be acquired, for example, by thetransmission terminal 10 from the transmission management apparatus 50immediately before step S80, or by the user pressing an operation button108. Note that if the transmission terminal 10 is the informationprocessing terminal 40, the URI of the UI providing apparatus 20 isacquired as a result of a hardware key or a software key displayed on atouch panel of the information processing terminal 40, instead of theoperation button 108, being pressed.

In step S81, the transmission and reception unit 21 of the UI providingapparatus 20 receives the layout information request signal, and, as aresult, the server unit 22 reads the storage unit 2000 based on thedesignated URI to acquire the layout information 2000L.

Next, in step S82, the server unit 22 transmits the layout information2000L that has been read through the transmission and reception unit 21to the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted the layoutinformation request signal. The layout information includes respectiveitems of layout information of the auxiliary area 173 in both thestandard manner and the simple display manner.

In step S83, the transmission and reception unit 11 of the transmissionterminal 10 stores the layout information 2000L in a volatile memory.The volatile memory is, for example, the RAM 103. That is, by storingthe layout information 2000L that has been acquired once in thetransmission terminal 10, it is not necessary to again acquire thelayout information 2000L from the UI providing apparatus 20 during thepower being supplied. Therefore, even if the transmission terminal 10again displays the auxiliary area 173 after having removed the auxiliaryarea 173 once, the transmission terminal 10 can read the layoutinformation 2000L from the volatile memory of the transmission terminal10. Therefore, it is possible to eliminate a processing time to acquirethe layout information 2000L, and as a result, a time for displaying theauxiliary area 173 can be reduced. Also, as a result of the layoutinformation 2000L being stored in a volatile memory, the layoutinformation 2000L is deleted as a result of the power being turned offin the transmission terminal 10. Thus, it is possible to prevent thelayout information 2000L from being leaked from the transmissionterminal 10.

Next, in step S84, the auxiliary area display unit 18 of thetransmission terminal 10 (FIG. 7) transmits a terminal informationrequest signal to the transmission management apparatus 50. The terminalinformation request signal is a signal to request the number of thetransmission terminals 10 which have participated in the videoconference.

In step S85, the transmission and reception unit 51 of the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50 receives the terminal information requestsignal, and as a result, the terminal status acquisition unit 55searches the terminal management DB 5003 to calculate the number ofterminal IDs for which the operational statuses are “online (undertransmission)”. That is, the terminal status acquisition unit 55identifies the terminal management table 5003T (FIG. 9B) that registersthe IP address of the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted theterminal information request signal, and identifies all of the terminalIDs for which the operational statuses are “online (under transmission)”from the identified terminal management table 5003T to acquire thenumber of the terminal IDs. According to the present embodiment, theterminal status acquisition unit 55 detects the terminal IDs, i.e.,“01aa”, “01cb”, and “01db”. Thus, the number of the terminal IDs is “3”.Note that the operational status of the transmission terminal 10 aa thathas the terminal ID “01aa” is set to be “online (under transmission)” instep S43 of FIG. 12.

Note that it is possible to acquire the number of the transmissionterminals 10 of “online (transmission possible)” in addition to thenumber of transmission terminals 10 of “online (under transmission)”. Asa result, each transmission terminal 10 can display the number of thetransmission terminals 10 that have logged in on the display 120. It isalso possible to separately acquire the number of the transmissionterminals 10 of “online (under transmission)”, and the number of thetransmission terminals 10 of “online (transmission possible)”, and eachtransmission terminal 10 can display these numbers separately on thedisplay 120. As a result, it is possible to know that there are userswho have not participated in the conference if these numbers are not thesame as one another, for example. Next, in step S86, the terminal statusacquisition unit 55 transmits, through the transmission and receptionunit 51, the acquired number of the terminal ID of “online (undertransmission)” to the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted theterminal information request signal.

Note that the terminal status acquisition unit 55 may transmit theterminal IDs of “online (under transmission)” also to other transmissionterminals 10 than the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted theterminal information request signal. For example, after the number ofthe terminal IDs of online is transmitted to the transmission terminal10 aa that has the terminal ID “01aa” in step S86, the number of theterminal IDs of online may be transmitted also to the transmissionterminals 10 cb and 10 db that have the terminal IDs “01cb” and “01db”.Thereby, each of the transmission terminals 10 cb and 10 db having theterminal IDs “01cb” and “01db” can display the number of the bases inthe auxiliary area 173, as a result of receiving the layout information2000L.

In step S87, the transmission and reception unit 11 of the transmissionterminal 10 receives the number of the terminal IDs of “online (undertransmission)”, and the auxiliary area display unit 18 displays thenumber on the display 120. That is, the auxiliary area display unit 18interprets the layout information 2000L to determines a position of theauxiliary area 173 and a layout of the first area ar1 through the sixtharea ar6, sets the respective items of information in the first area ar1through the sixth area ar6, and displays the information on the display120.

The terminal ID of the transmission terminal 10 itself in the first areaar1 has been stored in the storage unit 1000. The number of bases in thesecond area ar2 is transmitted from the transmission managementapparatus 50. The period of time elapsed from when the session has beenestablished in the third area ar3 is measured by the transmissionterminal 10 after the session has been established. Information in thefourth area ar4 is, for example, information that the transmissionterminal 10 or the transmission management apparatus 50 has. Informationconcerning a network band in the fifth area ar5 is displayed in such amanner that the transmission terminal 10 measures the communicationsrate between the transmission terminal 10 and the relay apparatus 30periodically or in a real-time manner, and displays the measured rate.The cursor buttons 1736 in the sixth area ar6 are image data such aspreviously determined icons.

Note that the displayed auxiliary area 173 can be removed as a result ofthe user operating an operation button 108. Also, the displayedauxiliary area 173 can be again displayed as a result of the useroperating an operation button 108.

Thus, the transmission terminal 10 can display the number of bases whichhave participated in the video conference without entering aninformation display mode. Therefore, the user need not operate anoperation button 108, or the like. Because the transmission terminal 10is kept in the full screen display mode, the user can know the number ofbases while seeing images of the respective bases. Even if the number ofbases that have participated in the video conference exceeds the displayupper limit, the user can accurately know the number of bases.

The user is allowed to set either one of a manner to “display inresponse to being operated” the auxiliary area 173 or a manner to“remove after elapse of certain period of time” the once displayedauxiliary area 173 to the transmission terminal 10.

FIG. 23 illustrates one example of a screen page from which the userperforms a setting to display the auxiliary area 173. The screen page ofFIG. 23 is displayed on the display 120 in response to the useroperating, for example, an operation button 108. The screen page of FIG.23 includes two radio buttons 221 and 222, a message 223 “display inresponse to being operated” associated with the radio button 221, and amessage 224 “remove after elapse of certain period of time” associatedwith the radio button 222. The user can select either one of the tworadio buttons 221 and 222.

If the radio button 221 is selected, the transmission terminal 10continuously displays the auxiliary area 173. Then, as illustrated inFIG. 24, the transmission terminal 10 displays the auxiliary area 173 inthe standard manner and the auxiliary area 173 in the simple displaymanner alternately, or displays none of the auxiliary area 173 in thestandard manner and the auxiliary area 173 in the simple display manner,according to an operation of the user.

If the radio button 222 is selected, the transmission terminal 10removes the auxiliary area 173 after displaying the auxiliary area 173for a certain period of time, and again displays the auxiliary area 173in response to a detection of a trigger to again display the auxiliaryarea 173. Also in this case, the user may display or remove theauxiliary area 173 by performing an operation as one example of thetrigger.

If the radio button 222 is selected, a message “set certain period” 225becomes visible, and also, the user is allowed to set a numeral in atime period setting field 226. The user can set a period of time forwhich the auxiliary area 173 will be displayed and will be removedthereafter in the time period setting field 226. Before the user setsthe period of time, a certain initial value has been set. The user ofthe transmission terminal 10 can set any period of time in the timeperiod setting field 226. An upper limit and a lower limit may beprescribed to limit a period of time that can be set in the time periodsetting field 226.

FIG. 24 is one example of a flowchart illustrating a switching operationbetween the auxiliary area 173 in the standard manner and the auxiliaryarea 173 in the simple display manner carried out by the transmissionterminal 10 when the above-mentioned manner “display in response tobeing operated” is selected.

In step S187-1, the process of FIG. 24 is started when the auxiliarydisplay unit 18 starts displaying the auxiliary area 173 in the standardmanner in step S87 of FIG. 22.

In step S187-2, the auxiliary display unit 18 determines whether acertain period of time has elapsed, after displaying the auxiliary area173 in the standard manner. The certain period of time may be previouslydetermined, or the certain period of time that is set in FIG. 23 whenthe manner “remove after elapsed of certain period of time” is selectedmay be used. Also, the certain period of time may be set by the userseparately from the certain period of time that is set in FIG. 23.

After the certain period of time has elapsed (Yes in step S187-2), theauxiliary display unit 18 switches the auxiliary area 173 in thestandard manner into the auxiliary area 173 in the simple display mannerin step S187-3. The cursor buttons 1736 in the auxiliary area 173 in thesimple display manner are such that both the upper and lower triangularbuttons 1736 u and 1736 d have black colors, and therefore, it ispossible to allow the user to understand that the screen page will bechanged by pressing either one of the triangular buttons is pressed.

The auxiliary display unit 18 determines whether the lower triangularbutton 1736 d has been operated, in S187-4.

If the lower triangular button 1736 d has been operated (Yes in stepS187-4), the auxiliary display unit 18 switches the auxiliary area 173in the simple display manner into the auxiliary area 173 in the standardmanner in step S187-7. In the auxiliary area 173 in the standard manner,the lower triangular button 1736 d has a white color, and therefore, itcan be suggested that nothing occurs if the lower triangular button 1736d is pressed. The upper triangular button 1736 u has a black color, andtherefore, it can be suggested that the auxiliary area 173 in the simpledisplay manner will be displayed again if the upper triangular button1736 u is pressed. Also, because the auxiliary area 173 in the standardmanner is displayed in a semitransparent manner, it is possible tocontinue the conference without degrading the visibility of image dataas much as possible.

If the lower triangular button 1736 d has not been operated (No in stepS187-4), the auxiliary display unit 18 determines whether the uppertriangular button 1736 u has been operated in step S187-5. Note that thedetermination as to whether the lower triangular button 1736 d has beenoperated and the determination as to whether the upper triangular button1736 u has been operated may be carried out in any order.

If the upper triangular button 1736 u has been operated (Yes in stepS187-5), the auxiliary display unit 18 does not display the auxiliaryarea 173 in step S187-6. That is, the auxiliary display unit 18 displaysnone of the auxiliary area 173 in the simple display manner and theauxiliary area 173 in the standard manner. Thereafter, the auxiliarydisplay unit 18 may display the auxiliary area 173 in the simple displaymanner (i.e., the process may return to step S187-3) in response to thelower triangular button 1736 d being operated. Note that such a designcan be made that nothing occurs even if the upper triangular button 1736u is operated, or the auxiliary area 173 in the standard manner isdisplayed in response to the operation. It is also possible to be ableto carry out such control that the auxiliary display unit 18 displaysnone of the auxiliary area 173 in the simple display manner and theauxiliary area 173 in the standard manner, but displays the cursorbuttons 1736, and returns to step S187-3.

If, in step S187-7, the auxiliary area 173 in the standard manner isdisplayed, the auxiliary display unit 18 determines whether the uppertriangular button 1736 u has been operated, in step S187-8.

If the upper triangular button 1736 u has been operated (Yes in stepS187-8), the auxiliary display unit 18 switches the auxiliary area 173in the standard manner into the auxiliary area 173 in the simple displaymanner in step S187-3.

Thus, the user can switch the display mode of the auxiliary area byoperating the cursor buttons 1736.

Next, operations of the transmission management apparatus 50 and thetransmission terminal 10 after the transmission terminal 10 displays theauxiliary area 173 in step S87 of FIG. 22 will now be described.

FIG. 25 is one example of a flowchart illustrating operations of thetransmission management apparatus 50. A process of FIG. 25 is, forexample, carried out repetitiously after the transmission managementapparatus 50 calculates the number of the online terminal IDs in stepS85 of FIG. 22.

In step S85-1, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 (FIG. 7) monitorsthe terminal management table 5003T in which the IP address (or theterminal ID) of the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted theterminal information request signal is registered.

In step S85-2, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 determineswhether the number of the terminal IDs of “online (under transmission)”transmitted in step S85 of FIG. 22 has increased or decreased.

If the determination result in step S85-2 is NO, the process of FIG. 25is once ended, and the process is then repetitiously carried out fromstep S85-1.

If the determination result in step S85-2 is YES, this means that thenumber of bases has changed. Therefore, in step S85-3, the terminalstatus acquisition unit 55 transmits the number of terminal IDs each ofwhich currently has the operational status “online (under transmission)”to the transmission terminal 10. Therefore, the transmission terminal 10that has once acquired the number of the terminal IDs of “online (undertransmission)” can acquire the correct number of bases at any time.

Also in FIG. 25, the terminal status acquisition unit 55 may transmitthe number of the terminal IDs of “online (under transmission)” also tothe transmission terminals 10 of “online (under transmission)” otherthan the transmission terminal 10 that has transmitted the terminalinformation request signal. Thereby, all the transmission terminals 10of online can have the correct number of bases at any time.

FIG. 26 is one example of a flowchart illustrating an operationprocedure of the transmission terminal 10. The process of FIG. 26 is,for example, repetitiously carried out after the transmission terminal10 displays the auxiliary area 173 in step S87 of FIG. 22. FIG. 26 nowwill be described assuming a case where a setting is made to select themanner “remove after elapse of certain period of time” the oncedisplayed auxiliary area 173.

First, in step S87-1, the auxiliary area display unit 18 (FIG. 7)determines whether the auxiliary area display unit 18 is currentlydisplaying the auxiliary area 173.

If the determination result in step S87-1 is YES, the auxiliary areadisplay unit 18 determines in step S87-2 whether the period of time thathas elapsed from when the auxiliary area display unit 18 startsdisplaying the auxiliary area 173 exceeds the certain period of time.

If the determination result of step S87-2 is YES, the auxiliary areadisplay unit 18 removes the auxiliary area 173 in step S87-3. Therefore,the participant can participate in the video conference while payingattention mainly to the images of the respective bases.

If the determination result of step S87-2 is NO, the auxiliary areadisplay unit 18 keeps displaying the auxiliary area 173.

If the determination result of step S87-1 is NO, the auxiliary areadisplay unit 18 determines whether a trigger to display the auxiliaryarea 173 occurs. The trigger is a case where the auxiliary area displayunit 18 has received the number of the terminal IDs of “online (undertransmission)” from the transmission management apparatus 50, or a casewhere the user has performed an operation to display the auxiliary area173.

First, in step S87-4, the auxiliary area display unit 18 determineswhether the auxiliary area display unit 18 has received the number ofthe terminal IDs of “online (under transmission)” from the transmissionmanagement apparatus 50.

If the determination result of step S87-4 is YES, the auxiliary areadisplay unit 18 again displays the auxiliary area 173 based on thelayout information 2000L stored in the RAM 103, in step S87-5. Thereby,if the number of bases has changed, the transmission terminal 10 canimmediately reflect the changed number of bases in the auxiliary area173.

If the determination result of step S87-4 is NO, the auxiliary areadisplay unit 18 determines in step S87-6 whether the user has performedan operation to display the auxiliary area 173.

If the determination result of step S87-6 is YES, the auxiliary areadisplay unit 18 displays the auxiliary area 173 based on the layoutinformation 2000L stored in the RAM 103 in step S87-5. Thereby, the usercan display the auxiliary area 173 at any timing.

If each of both the determination results of step S87-4 and step S87-6is NO, the auxiliary area display unit 18 keeps not displaying theauxiliary area 173.

Thus, the auxiliary area 173 is displayed when the number of bases haschanged. Therefore, the user can easily know that the number of baseshas changed. Because the auxiliary area 173 is removed after the elapseof the certain period of time, the user can participate in the videoconference while paying attention mainly to the images of the respectivebases.

If the user wishes to know details of bases which have participated inthe video conference as a result of knowing a change in the number ofbases or knowing the number of bases, the user can switch the displaymode into the information display mode. Because the user can switch thedisplay mode into the information display mode when the number of baseshas changed, the user need not switch the display mode into theinformation display mode to know the number of bases or the bases whichhave participated in the video conference.

The transmission terminals, the transmission management apparatuses, theprograms, the transmission methods, and the transmission systems havebeen described in the embodiments. However, the present invention is notlimited to the above-mentioned embodiments, and various modificationsand improvements can be made within the scope of the present invention.

For example, the relay apparatuses 30, the transmission managementapparatus 50 and the program providing apparatus 90 can be establishedby a single computer instead of being provided separately. Also, therespective elements and the storage units 1000, 2000, 3000, and 5000 ofthe relay apparatuses 30, the transmission management apparatus 50 andthe program providing apparatus 90 can be freely assigned to a pluralityof computers. In this case, the UI providing apparatus 20 can beincluded as a function of any one of the computers.

Also, as an example of quality of an image relayed by a relay apparatus30, resolution of an image of image data is managed in theabove-mentioned embodiments. However, what is managed is not limited tothis example. As others example of quality to be managed, a depth ofimage quality of image data, a sampling frequency used when a sound issampled to acquire sound data, a bit length in a sound of sound data, orthe like, can be managed. Also, it is possible that sound data istransmitted and received in a manner that the sound data is separatedinto respective pieces that have 3 types of resolution (high resolution,medium resolution, and low resolution).

Also, in FIGS. 9A and 9B, the IP addresses of the transmission terminals10 are managed. However, what is managed is not limited to IP addresses,and any other information for identifying the transmission terminals 10in the transmission network 2 may be used. For example, FQDNs (FullyQualified Domain Names) of the transmission terminals 10 may be managed.In this case, through a known DNS (Domain Name System) server, the IPaddresses corresponding to the FQDNs are acquired.

Also, in the above-mentioned embodiments, a video conference system hasbeen described as one example of the transmission system 1. However, thetransmission system 1 is not limited to the video conference system. Forexample, the transmission system 1 may be a telephone system of IP(Internet Protocol) phones, internet phones or the like, or aninteractive white board system.

Also, the transmission system 1 can be a system that includes carnavigation apparatuses mounted in moving bodies, respectively. FIG. 27illustrates one example of a system configuration in a case wheretransmission terminals 10 are applied as car navigation apparatuses200-2 and 200-3 mounted in respective moving bodies (automobiles 601 and602), respectively.

In this case, one transmission terminal 10 corresponds to the carnavigation apparatus 200-2 mounted in the automobile 601. Anothertransmission terminals 10 corresponds to a management terminal 200-1used by a communicator in a management center 604, or the car navigationapparatus 200-3 mounted in the automobile 602. The management terminal200-1 and the car navigation apparatuses 200-2 and 200-3 are connectedtogether via a network 2. Also, the management terminal 200-1 and thecar navigation apparatuses 200-2 and 200-3 establish a session using atransmission management apparatus 50.

FIG. 28 illustrates one example of a configuration diagram of any one ofthe in-vehicle car navigation apparatuses 200-2 and 200-3. The carnavigation apparatus 200-2 has a configuration such that, to atransmission terminal 10 described above, a GPS receiver 612, a vehiclespeed sensor 613, a gyro sensor 614, and a road map data 615 areconnected. Also, the transmission terminal 10 includes a display 120integrally. Note that the display 120 may be connected to thetransmission terminal 10 in a wired manner or wirelessly, or may bedetachable to and from the transmission terminal 10.

The transmission terminal 10 provides the function as any one of the carnavigation apparatus 200-2 and 200-3 by executing a program. The GPSreceiver 612 captures GPS satellite signals to output the coordinates ofthe current position. The vehicle speed sensor 613 detects the vehiclespeed (i.e., the rotational speed of the wheels) of the vehicle 601 or602. The gyro sensor 614 detects the angular velocity, and, as a resultof integrating the angular velocity, it is possible to detect thedirection in which the vehicle 601 or 602 travels.

The road map data 615 is data that expresses roads by combinations ofnodes and links, and can be downloaded from the outside or can bepreviously held by the vehicle 601 or 602. The road map data isdisplayed on the display 120.

Note that a PC may be connected to the transmission terminal 10 forsharing screen pages. Also, the car navigation apparatus 200-2 or 200-3may have, in addition to the configuration illustrated in FIG. 28, atuner function to a receive radio or TV broadcasts, an audio function toreproduce music, a function to link with an in-vehicle camera such as arearview camera, a browser function to display Web sites, and so forth.

The transmission terminal 10 estimates the position of the vehicle byapplying autonomous navigation that accumulates travel distancesdetected by the vehicle speed sensor 613 in the travel directiondetected by the gyro sensor 614 using the position information that isdetected by the GPS receiver 612 as a starting point. The position ofthe vehicle is displayed in the road map in a form of a vehicle mark.Also, the transmission terminal 10 searches for a route for adestination and guides the vehicle driver with the searched route. Thus,the transmission terminal 10 implements the car navigation function.

The car navigation apparatuses 200-2 and 200-3 are connected to thenetwork 20 through functions of the transmission terminals 10. Forexample, each transmission terminal 10 is connected to the network 2using a cellphone via a cellphone network that may use wirelesscommunications that mainly cover a wide area such as an outdoor area orthe like using antenna power from a base station.

The transmission terminal 10 as the car navigation apparatus 200-2 or200-3 displays a screen page of a destination list on the display 120such as the destination list of FIG. 29. The destination list is adisplay screen page where, in a destination list frame 1100-1, terminalIDs 1100-2, terminal names 1100-3, and icons 1100-4 a through 1100-4 crepresenting status information of destination terminal candidates areincluded. The occupant selects a destination terminal from the list ofdestination terminals displayed on the display 120.

After a session is established with the destination terminal, thetransmission terminal 10 (the car navigation apparatus 200-2 or 200-3)can transmit image data from a camera, voice data, and so forth to, andreceive image data, voice data, and so forth from the selecteddestination terminal.

Also, as a result of the user (the occupant) performing an operation onthe transmission terminal 10 (the car navigation apparatus 200-2 or200-3), the transmission terminal 10 can acquire display data such as aroad map, a TV picture, or the like. In this case, the car navigationapparatus 200-2 or 200-3 can transmit display data to the other carnavigation apparatus that is the destination terminal connected via thenetwork 2.

Also, if the user selects the management terminal 200-1 used by thecommunicator of the management center 604 from the list of thedestination terminals, image data of the communicator is displayed onthe display 120, and a voice of the communicator is output from thespeaker. Thus, the user can perform a conversation with the communicatoras a TV phone.

Thus, merely the mounting place becomes the moving body (the automobile,or the like), image data, voice data, and display data can betransmitted and received in a manner the same as or similar to atransmission terminal 10 in an office.

Also, in the above-mentioned embodiments, as an example of content data,image data and sound data are processed. However, content data is notlimited to image data and sound data, and content data may be touchdata. In this case, a feeling generated when a user touches onetransmission terminal 10 is transmitted to another transmission terminal10.

Also, content data may be smell data. In this case, a smell on the sideof one transmission terminal is transmitted to another transmissionterminal. Also, content data may be at least one of image data, sounddata, touch data, and smell data.

Also, in the above-mentioned embodiments, the case where thetransmission system 1 is used to carry out a video conference. However,actual applications of the transmission system 1 are not limited to thiscase. The transmission system 1 may be used for a meeting, a generalconversation among family members, friends, or the like, or submittinginformation unidirectionally.

Thus, it is possible to provide a transmission terminal with which it ispossible to know information of other bases even in an image mode whereimages from transmission terminals are displayed.

Thus, the transmission terminals, the transmission managementapparatuses, the non-transitory recording media, the transmissionmethods, and the transmission systems have been described in theembodiments. However, embodiments are not limited to the above-describedembodiments, and various modifications and replacements may be made.

What is claimed is:
 1. A transmission terminal comprising: at least oneprocessor configured to transmit a terminal information request torequest the number of transmission terminals under transmission to atransmission management apparatus, managing a plurality of transmissionterminals, connected via a network; and display image data received fromone or more of the transmission terminals under transmission on adisplay device, and display the number of the transmission terminalsunder transmission received from the transmission management apparatusin response to the terminal information request on the display device.2. The transmission terminal according to claim 1, wherein the number ofpieces of image data displayed on the display device is within a maximumnumber of pieces of image data displayable on the display device.
 3. Thetransmission terminal according to claim 2, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to display the pieces of image datawithin the maximum number on the display device if the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission is greater than the maximumnumber, and display the number of the transmission terminals undertransmission on the display device.
 4. The transmission terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to display the number of the transmission terminals undertransmission on the display device based on arrangement information. 5.The transmission terminal according to claim 4, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to transmit an arrangement informationrequest to request the arrangement information to an apparatus otherthan the plurality of transmission terminals connected to the network,and display the number of the transmission terminals on the displaydevice according to the arrangement information received in response tothe arrangement information request.
 6. The transmission terminalaccording to claim 4, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to acquire position information of a position where thearrangement information is stored in the network from the transmissionmanagement apparatus, and transmit an arrangement information request torequest the arrangement information stored in the position indicated bythe position information.
 7. The transmission terminal according toclaim 4, wherein the at least one processor is further configured tostore the arrangement information received in response to an arrangementinformation request, and display the number of the transmissionterminals under transmission on the display device according to thestored arrangement information, in case of displaying the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission on the display device after astate where the number of the transmission terminals under transmissionis displayed on the display device is changed into a state where thenumber of the transmission terminals under transmission is not displayedon the display device.
 8. The transmission terminal according to claim7, wherein the stored arrangement information is cleared when power inthe transmission terminal is turned off.
 9. The transmission terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to not display the number of the transmission terminals undertransmission on the display device if a certain period of time haselapsed from when the at least one processor displays the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission on the display device.
 10. Thetransmission terminal according to claim 9, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to display the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission on the display device receivedfrom the transmission management apparatus, when the at least oneprocessor has received the number of the transmission terminals undertransmission from the transmission management apparatus in a state wherethe at least one processor does not display the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission.
 11. The transmission terminalaccording to claim 1, wherein the at least one processor is furtherconfigured to: receive a user's operation, and display the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission on the display device if theat least one processor has received the user's operation for displayingthe number of the transmission terminals under transmission.
 12. Thetransmission terminal according to claim 11, wherein the at least oneprocessor is further configured to not display the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission on the display device if theat least one processor has received the user's operation for notdisplaying the number of the transmission terminals under transmission.13. The transmission terminal according to claim 12, wherein the atleast one processor is further configured to display information oftransmission statuses including the number of the transmission terminalsunder transmission in a manner of occupying a second area of a screenpage of the display device, in response to receiving a predetermineduser's operation when the at least one processor displays theinformation of transmission statuses including the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission in a manner of occupying afirst area of the screen page of the display device different from thesecond area.
 14. The transmission terminal according to claim 1, whereinthe at least one processor is further configured to displayidentification information of the transmission terminal on the displaydevice.
 15. The transmission terminal according to claim 14, wherein theidentification information is such that another transmission terminalwill receive an input of the identification information to participatein the same conference as the transmission terminal.
 16. A transmissionmethod comprising: carrying out, by at least one processor, transmissionwith at least one of a plurality of transmission terminals managed by atransmission management apparatus; transmitting, by at least oneprocessor, a terminal information request to request the number oftransmission terminals under transmission to the transmission managementapparatus via a network; and displaying, by at least one processor,image data received from one or more of the transmission terminals undertransmission on a display device, and displaying the number of thetransmission terminals under transmission received from the transmissionmanagement apparatus in response to the terminal information request onthe display device.
 17. A non-transitory recording medium storing aprogram causing an information processing apparatus that is connected toa transmission management apparatus, managing a plurality oftransmission terminals, via a network, and carries out transmission withat least one transmission terminal to carry out the transmission methodaccording to claim
 16. 18. A transmission system comprising: atransmission management apparatus including at least one processorconfigured to manage a plurality of transmission terminals; calculatethe number of transmission terminals under transmission from among theplurality of transmission terminals, and transmit the calculated numberof the transmission terminals under transmission to a transmissionterminal of the plurality of transmission terminals; and thetransmission terminal communicatable with the transmission managementapparatus via a network and including at least one processor configuredto carry out transmission with at least one of other transmissionterminals; transmit a terminal information request to request the numberof the transmission terminals under transmission to the transmissionmanagement apparatus; and display image data received from one or moreof the transmission terminals under transmission on a display device,and display the number of the transmission terminals under transmissionreceived from the transmission management apparatus in response to theterminal information request on the display device.